1999 Hessian state election

The 1999 Hessian state election was held on 7 February 1999 to elect the members of the 15th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hans Eichel.

1999 Hesse state election

← 1995 7 February 1999 2003 →
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,800,371 (66.4%) 0.1%
First party Second party   Leader Roland Koch Hans Eichel Party CDU SPD Last election 45 seats, 39.2% 44 seats, 38.0% Seats won 50 46 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 1,215,783 1,102,544 Percentage 43.4% 39.4% Swing 4.2% 1.4%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Greens FDP Last election 13 seats, 11.2% 8 seats, 7.4% Seats won 8 6 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 201,194 142,845 Percentage 7.2% 5.1% Swing 4.0% 2.3%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Hans Eichel SPD Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

The government was unexpectedly defeated, with the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) winning a comfortable plurality and forming a one-seat majority coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This was despite prior opinion polling indicating the SPD and Greens would be re-elected comfortably and increase their majority. CDU leader Roland Koch was elected Minister-President by the Landtag in early April.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1995 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	39.2%	45 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Hans Eichel	38.0%	44 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Priska Hinz Rupert von Plottnitz	11.2%	13 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Ruth Wagner	7.4%	8 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	FDP	Others	Lead
1999 state election	7 February 1999	–	43.4	39.4	7.2	5.1	4.9	4.0
Polis	30 Jan 1999	1,016	36	41	10	8	5	5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	25–28 Jan 1999	1,025	39	42	8.5	5.5	5	3
Infratest dimap	18–24 Jan 1999	1,000	37.5	42	10	7	3.5	4.5
Forsa	20 Jan 1999	?	36	40	11	7	6	4
Forsa	14 Jan 1999	?	37	38	12	7	6	1
Infratest dimap	4–10 Jan 1999	1,000	39	42	9	6	4	3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	30 Nov–3 Dec 1998	1,011	37	45	9	4	5	8
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	2–5 Nov 1998	1,021	38	43	10	4	5	5
1995 state election	19 February 1995	–	39.2	38.0	11.2	7.4	4.3	1.2

Campaign

During the campaign, the CDU collected signatures opposing the federal government's plan to relax Germany's high standards for dual citizenship, which drew accusations of xenophobia.^[1]

Election result

Party		Constituency			Party list				Total seats	+/-
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	+/-	Seats
	Christian Democratic Union	1,265,942	45.34	34	1,215,783	43.42	+4.26	16	50	5
	Social Democratic Party	1,158,663	41.50	21	1,102,544	39.37	+1.40	25	46	2
	Alliance 90/The Greens	168,325	6.03	0	201,194	7.18	-4.01	8	8	5
	Free Democratic Party	98,095	3.51	0	142,845	5.10	-2.35	6	6	2
	The Republicans	79,273	2.84	0	75,114	2.68	+0.70	0	0	0
	Human Environment Animal Protection Party	2,056	0.07	0	12,856	0.46	New	0	0	New
	League of Free Citizens	8,760	0.31	0	10,811	0.39	+0.08	0	0	0
	Free Voters	405	0.01	0	10,057	0.36	New	0	0	New
	Feminist Party of Germany	1,745	0.06	0	6,691	0.24	New	0	0	New
	National Democratic Party	2,231	0.08	0	5,933	0.21	-0.07	0	0	0
	Party of Bible-abiding Christians	2,164	0.08	0	4,999	0.18	-0.06	0	0	0
	German Communist Party	1,181	0.04	0	3,881	0.14	+0.02	0	0	0
	Natural Law Party	1,515	0.05	0	2,499	0.09	-0.07	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	138	0.00	0	2,053	0.07	-0.12	0	0	0
	Party of Willing Workers and Disadvantaged	95	0.00	0	1,909	0.07	New	0	0	0
	Civil Rights Movement Soliarity	627	0.02	0	612	0.02	0.00	0	0	0
	German Homeland Party	91	0.00	0	591	0.02	-0.01	0	0	0
	Independents	540	0.02	0	–				0	0
Total		2,791,846	100.00	55	2,800,372	100.00		55	110	0
Invalid		53,740	1.89		45,214	1.59
Turnout		2,845,586	66.45		2,845,586	66.45	+0.18
Registered voters		4,282,397			4,282,397